


Cleansing the Infection

by Lolamz



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:41:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25447807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolamz/pseuds/Lolamz
Summary: a headcanon AU where the dreamers can breach the mental walls in the sealed vessel's mind, and take the Radiance out themselves.each chapter tells the story of each dreamer taking on the old-light
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	1. Monomon

“Madam, where are you going?” Quirrel asked, as Monomon climbed into her dream tank. “Will you be back soon?”  
“Quirrel, I need you to do something for me.” Monomon said in a serious tone.  
“Of course madam! What is it?” Monomon sighed.  
“N-nevermind.” she said, moving her hands away from her mask.  
“Madam, wait! What was it?” Quirrel asked, a sense of both urgency and curiosity in his voice.  
“Ah Quirrel, questioning as always. I was planning on giving you my mask, in case the radiance gets the better of me.  
“You’re not going to-”  
“But I must stay confident. That god has been the subject of my studies for countless hours. I've seen it fight, I know how to counter everything she can throw at me, and I will be victorious!” she said confidently.  
“Yeah! I believe in you madam!” Quirrel cheered.  
“I want you to monitor me regardless. If my vitals fall quickly I want you to drain the tank and take my mask. Then I need you to refill the tank. It will further protect my seal in case it all falls apart during our battle.” Monomon said, firmly yet softly.  
“Very well madam, I will see you soon.” Quirrel replied.

As Monomon fell into a deep, deep slumber, her dreams cascaded out of her mind, dashed out of the archives and headed towards the balck egg temple.  
“I love you, Monomon” whispered Quirrel, as he watched her thoughts leaving the canyon on the tracker, “come back safe.”

Her thoughts entered the black egg, and blew into the sealed room like sand in a dust storm, where they materialised into an ethereal Monomon, standing as if she were in the sacred glades. She looked up to see the hollow knight, up in chains, eyes orange with infection. ‘Oh no, its gotten worse…’ she thought, ‘I knew something was wrong when the king put it in the chains’ she floated up to the sealed vessel, and looked it in the eye. It stared back at her, eyes tired, desperate for help. ‘Don't worry, broken one, I will do my best to heal you, friend.’ Monomon spoke softly, trying to comfort the vessel. She placed an ethereal arm in between its eyes, and with a blinding flash, she entered its mind. There, she saw a staircase leading out from the howling cliffs, upwards into a brilliant glare of sunlight, that pierced through the grey clouds. As she cautiously climbed the stairs, the screech of the radiance bellowed down on her, staggering Monomons climb. 

“Its ok, I'm ok,” she reassured herself, “it's just the most powerful being known to us. I just need to find the pattern and exploit it.”

At the top of the stairs, she found a platform which overlooked the blazing sun. The Radiance wouldn’t attack unless challenged by a foe she deems worthy of her time and power.  
“Power does not exist in strength, but in knowledge! By that, I am more powerful than you! You bow down before me you coward!” She bellowed, challenging the god in front of her.  
The platform shook, as the sun in front of her began to morph, and grow a pair of wings, before dashing towards her at lightning pace. The radiance appeared before Monomon, and with a booming thunderclap, the radiance screamed once again.

*  
A light began to flash on the dream tank’s control panel. Quirrel dashed over and consulted the light. “Oh no, madam, stay with me!” he said to the inanimate figure in the tank. The light signalled the start of her slow descent into catastrophe. Her brain had commanded her body to produce adrenaline for the fight, but since her body remained mobile in the tank, these hormones had nowhere to go, and they slowly began overwhelming her. Acting quickly, Quirrel set the system to embed small pipes into Monomon’s brain, which slowly siphoned off the excess adrenaline and stored it elsewhere.

*  
“Okay!” she said to herself, “dodge the beams, wait for the nails and grab one, and from there harrah's training takes over.” Monomon repeated to herself, mapping her plan into a reality. The radiance’s eyes glowed bright, as she charged a laser made of pure, harsh light. Monomon swiftly ducked out of the way, and grabbed one of Radiance’s wings. She gripped it tightly and channeled some electricity through it, staggering the god as thousands of volts charged through her nerves.

Radiance bellowed once again, and threw Monomon off her. She then conjured up two pure nails, both significantly longer than even Sly’s nail, and dashed at Monomon. She swung rapidly, slashing and slicing at the teacher, a couple of swings scraping at her lower half, however Monomon was very quick at dodging. Radiance went for a massive swing, throwing all her weight behind it. Monomon vaulted over it professionally, and grabbed onto the radiance’s nail. She shocked the arm that held onto the nail, which forced Radiance to let go. Monomon gripped it tightly and lifted it high. Once again, she channeled electricity through her arms and the sword glowed a brilliant cyan, as if coated with lumaflies. 

*  
Quirrel’s eyes dashed across the control panel, desperately looking for a way to help his teacher. Her vitals were lower than they normally are yet still above the threshold she told him about ‘if i drop too low, drain the tank, grab the mask, refill the tank.’ Her words echoed in her mind as he could do nothing but wait. It was agony, knowing his teacher was locked up in her hardest task yet, and all he could do was watch.

*  
The pure nails clashed, as Monomon engaged the radiance at breakneck speed. Her endless planning had come into play. She was able to dip, dodge, duck, and dive in between every attack radiance threw at her. Monomon’s mind was working overtime at this point. Battle tactics, herrah’s training and the general sense of “if you lose you die, if you win you save hallownest” all clouding her thought processes. With a quick cyclone slash, Monomon had staggered the radiance once more, it collapsed down onto the platform next to her, laying exhausted. “Knowledge is power, and I am the conduit.” she said calmly, placing both arms on either side of radiacnce’s eyes, and with all the might she could muster, she shocked the last of the light out of the Radiance. The pair of them screamed in agony as a seemingly infinite amount of volts discharged between them.

*

The warning lights on the console began flashing once again. Quirrel snapped his vision over to the monitors and saw her heart rate had plummeted. “NO! Madam stay with me! Please!” he begged, “there's gotta be something else i can do!” He scanned the keyboard, but it was all written in symbols he couldn’t understand, except two keys. Drain. Fill.  
Reluctantly, he drained the tank enough so he could reach his teacher and her mask. He slowly pulled it off her face and placed it on his head, like his own cap. He glanced at his teacher's face. An expressionless face looked back, with only two crystal white eyes separating it from appearing as black as the abyss.  
As Monomon’s consciousness came back to her, she saw Quirrel at the top of the tank, his eyes filled with tears. “It’s ok, it’s been done. Thank you, friend.” she placed a hand on top of Quirrels, and with a solemn “goodbye, my love” she collapsed into the tank.

As per his promise, Quirrel refilled and resealed the tank, allowing Monomon to rest in peace in the one place she truly belonged. He held the mask out in front of him, before placing it on his head and leaving the archives. He couldn’t help but shed a tear as he waved goodbye to Uumuu for what could be the last time, and set out to begin a new life.


	2. Lurien

“My Liege, what is it you desire from me?” asked the butler, as he entered the room.  
“No longer shall you refer to me as ‘your liege’, for I ask of you to be the next watcher of the city.” Lurien said solemnly, “I must take on a task for the integrity of Hallownest, which will likely lead to my own demise.”  
“But sire-”  
“Please, call me Lurien.” lurien interrupted.  
“But- Lurien- what are you going to do? And why is it so dangerous?”  
“As a dreamer, it is my duty to uphold the strength of the kingdom, which is why myself and the watcher knights are taking on the Radiance in an attempt to rid Hallownest of the infection.”  
The butler's eyes widened. “You’re not going to- the watcher kni- im the next watch- sire im not okay with this.”  
“Why? What's the matter?” lurien asked, stepping down from the telescope and crouching in front of the butler. “The knights and I are prepared for the battle. I will command them to victory and we shall rid the infection from Hallownest!”  
“Not that part sire, I wholeheartedly believe you will succeed. Im worried about the city. Im- im not ready to be a watcher. I'm scared lurien!”  
“There’s no need to be scared, my friend. You will only need to watch over the city until the infection is clear. Once it is gone, the sentries will take over most of the work. Think of your job as a watcher as the judge, not the jury.”  
“Th-thank you, Lurien. I promise I will take up your duties as best i can.”

*  
“My knights! Our time has come! Join me in an ocean of dreams! The radiance shall fall under the might of the city!” Lurien bellowed into the barracks. The watcher knights cheered collectively, nails raised.  
“Join with me now, the hollow knight beckons us! For Hallownest!”  
“For Hallownest!” they repeated back, before heading into their respective quarters in the tower, and drifting into dreamsleep.

*  
Lurien’s dreams cascaded into the black egg temple, his knights swiftly followed as Lurien stood before the hollow knight. He looked up at the chained vessel, who stared back down at him, exhausted and depressed. “Fear not my friend! We are here to save you!” he turned to the watcher knights, “Soldiers! “We siege the beast inside the broken one’s mind, for Hallownest!”  
“For Hallownest!” the watcher knights chanted, and simultaneously jumped and phased into the hollow knight’s mind.

**  
The battalion emerged into the dream realm, where they stood on a platform high above the clouds, overlooking a blazing sun. realising the Radiance wouldn’t come out without being challenged a foe it deemed worthy.  
“Radiance! You cursed our people out of rage! Our king was stronger than you will ever be! We will show you true power!” bellowed Lurien into the horizon, the watcher knights cheering as he finished his challenge.   
The ground rumbled underneath their feet, before the sun in front of them morphed and grew a brilliant pair of wings, before dashing to the battalion at breakneck speed. There, she stopped before them, letting out a piercing wail, signalling the start of their immense battle.

Radiance noticed that lurien wasn’t like the knights , and so considered him a more dangerous threat. She pounced on him while his weapon wasn’t drawn, hoping to take him out of the fight swiftly. The knights saw their master in danger and formed a circle around him, shells facing outward, to protect him. The radiance’s nail made a dent in one of the knight’s shells, yet the circle was not broken.  
“Now my knights! Attack with the strength of the kingdom. Show her what a true warrior can do!” Lurien commanded, inspiring strength and power into the watcher knights with his speech. The knights stood in formation, before hastily advancing on the Radiance, nails held high. Two knights knelt on one knee, while the remaining four took turns in jumping off of the crouched ones in order to swing at the radiance. 

Naturally, the radiance blocked each of their hits with masterful skill, until the two crouched knights stood tall, launching two other knights over her head, both of them landing clean slices through the ligaments connecting her wings to her torso. Radiance screamed as she collapsed to the ground, wounded and staggered. “NOW! GET HER!” bellowed Lurien. The knights obeyed the commands dutifully, charging aggressively at the staggered radiance, going all out as they slashed and sliced at her body. Yet before they could lay the killing blow, a blast of essence emanated from the radiance, sending all the knights flying backwards, before staggering as they landed. Some landed poorly on their heads, and fell unconscious as they hit the ground, while others struggled to their feet, before collapsing under the divine light of the Radiance.  
“My knights!” cried Lurien, as he watched them dissipate from the dreamscape, “you have served me well, and you shall serve the new watcher even better, i know of it” he said solemnly. He slowly drew his nal from under his cloak. And pointed it at the wounded radiance. “And as for you! You summoned a plague that killed millions, and enslaved countless more!”  
The radiance screeched in retaliation of the accusations, and charged at Lurien, despite her injured wings. Lurien masterfully parried the strike, before landing a slice in between the radiance’s eyes, causing her to bleed a stream of essence.

Radiance threw her nails aside and grabbed lurien, blasting him with the most powerful beam of light hallownest had ever seen. Particles of essence bombarded the watcher as the blast drained his life force from him. “The- might- of- hallow-nest- is- greater- than- your- wrath!” lurien shouted, before driving his nail deep into the previous wound, shutting out the light and ending the constant barrage of light. He climbed out from the deceased Radiance’s grasp, and held his nail up high, “i die as i slay: for you, my king-” he said, looking up into the heavens, before passing out and having his consciousness fade back into reality.


	3. Herrah

“Mother, what is it you requested me for?” Hornet asked, as she entered the beast’s den.  
“I need you to do something for me, my child,” Herrah replied, “something very important for myself, yourself, and the entirety of both hallownest and deepnest.”  
“As a protector of this kingdom, I will do what I must to preserve its integrity.” Hornet replied, a stalwart look on her face. On the inside though, she was not nearly as resolute. She was anxious, she knew her mother was going to say something that would hurt, but it was something that was more important than her emotions. Herrah said nothing, yet knelt in front of her daughter, and slid the deepnest bracelet from her wrist onto Hornet’s.   
“From princess protector to monarch sentinel, i now pronounce you queen of deepnest.” Herrah said, looking up to her daughter with a smile that said “I'm proud of you, my child.”  
“Mother, what? Why? What’s happened to you? Why can’t you rule the kingdom anymore?”  
“As both a dreamer and warrior, I cannot dwell in this den while this infection rages havoc across both kingdoms. I must do something, which is why I plan to tackle it at the source.”  
“Mother!” Hornet objected, “you can't kill that god! Nobody can!”  
“If i can't kill it i will die trying. Hornet, I can't just sit here and do nothing!” Herrah protested.  
“You must mother! Monomon is working on a cure as we speak, you must remain patient.” Hornet said, her voice breaking slightly, “i don't want to lose you mother.”   
Herrah knelt down in front of her daughter, and wiped the tear from the princess’ eye, “its ok, my baby girl. I am confident in my ability to slay this beast. And even if i cannot, i have faith in you to be a better queen than i could ever be.” Hornet said nothing, yet dashed towards her mother, and gave her a hug. She wasnt normally one for expressing emotion- usually it was a sign of weakness- but towards family it shows trust more than anything. “I love you mother,” she said through stifled breaths.  
“Aww, I remember the first time you hugged me like that, I came to pick you up from the midwife’s care after I had finished duties with the king and lurien. I swear on my own life i have never seen something move so quickly.” Herrah reminisced, before getting up off the floor and laying down to dream.  
“I wont leave your side mother, even if i stay here for a thousand lifetimes.” Hornet said stoically.  
“Thank you dear, i love you too.” Herrah said, drifting off into dreamsleep.

*

Her ethereal form arrived in the black egg mere seconds after falling into slumber. She looked up to see the sealed vessel, once hollow, now overwhelmed with infection. He looked down at her, desperate. He wanted to be rid of this infection, even if it meant losing his own life.  
“Sealed one!” Herrah called up to it, “grant me passage into your mind, so i am able to rid the plague that halts your existence.”  
The sealed vessel looked up, before a beam of light shot out of the cracks in its mask, which transported Herrah into Radiance’s domain.

*

“Radiance! You are nothing to the power of the needle! Your light burns bright, yet I can tether it down. Your infectious reign ends now!” Herrah bellowed, challenging the god above her. A loud rumble could be heard, before a blinding flash came into view. Radiance soared above the dreamer, before landing behind her.

“Your might is no match for my skill, moth. I will have my vengeance.” Herrah said calmly, before drawing two sleek, pure needles, and preparing herself for combat.  
Radiance let out a piercing bellow, and began firing blasts of light towards Herrah. Despite being the largest of the three dreamers, Herrah was very swift and dexterous, able to dodge and weave between each beam. As she dashed towards the goddess, she arched her arm back and threw one of the needles. It flew straight past Radiance, but redirected itself to circle her, wrapping her in pale silk, trapping the light. Radiance let out a desperate screech as Herrah jumped and laid a devastating strike into her chest, while the silk bindings trapped her wings, making her unable to escape as she was riddled with holes from Herrah’s needle. “This. ends. Now!” Herrah commanded, raising the needle to lay a final strike, but it was blocked. Radiance had summoned a flurry of pure nails to her aid, wielded through phantom psychic energies. Herrah was forced to backpedal while attempting to parry the barrage of pale steel nails. She called for her second nail to return, which consequently wound the pale silk off Radiance, freeing her from its grasp. As Herrah caught her nail in mid-air, she was hit with a massive blast of powerful light, temporarily dazing her and staggering her backwards, while also laying a devastating amount of damage to her ethereal form.

*  
Hornet paced around the resting chamber, her mind running overtime as she became more and more anxious about her mother’s state. ‘mother please, return to us’ she thought. ‘I cant take this…’ She drew her needle and began to thread it, feeding silk in through the eye and preparing for battle. ‘I'm coming mother!’ she thought, placing her middle and index fingers on her mother's temples, her thoughts cascading into her mother’s dreams.

*  
Herrah flinched as Radiance dashed towards her. This was it, the end. She had failed, she had let down hallownest. She had let down the dreamers, but more importantly, she let down Hornet. “Im sorry, my dear…” Herrah whispered, shedding a tear as she braced for the nails.

Moments later, Herrah opened her eyes. She hadnt been impaled by pure pale-steel. Radiance had been knocked down, by a certain someone, who donned a red cloak, and wielded a needle and thread.  
“Hornet! What do you think you’re doing here! You mustn't be here!”  
“MOTHER! MOVE!” Hornet demanded. Herrah decided it was best to listen to the sentinel. She quickly scurried backwards, grabbing her two needles and preparing to engage once again.  
“Hornet! You must leave now, this realm is not safe for you, my child!”  
Hornet dashed around radiance, who had only just gotten up from Hornet’s strike, entangling her in silk once again. Hornet drove her needle into radiance’s skull, while Herrah dived towards her and sunk the others into her wings. Radiance let out a final blast of light with her final bellow, with beams of light flashing wildly around the duo.  
“Goddamnit! Hornet we must leave thi- GAH!” Herrah shrieked. as a stray blast pierced through her chest.  
“MOTHER! NO!” Hornet cried. She dashed over to her and pressed her fingers hard onto her temples, removing them both from the dream realm.

*  
“Mother please, stay with me!” Hornet cried, shaking the inanimate body on the bed, grasping her mother’s hand tightly.  
“Thank you, daughter.” Herrah said, her voice hoarse.  
“No mother please! Quirrel is on his way, he will be able to heal you, just hold on!” Hornet was desperate.  
“Goodbye, my sweet princess…” whispered Herrah with her final breath.  
Hornet felt the grip on her hand loosen, and at that point she knew it was too late.  
Hornet spoke quietly, in both respect for the fallen and in light of her emotions. “Goodbye mother…” moments later, Quirrel burst through the entrance and dashed up to the resting chambers.   
“Hornet! I'm so sorry for taking so long, who nee- oh…” Quirrel announced, his voice trailing off as he saw the sentinel sitting at the foot of the bed, holding her head in her hands.  
“It's ok, Quirrel, she's- in a better place.” Hornet whispered, tears falling from her eyes.  
“I'm so sorry, i know how much she meant to you and-”  
“Quirrel,”’ Hornet said, with a somewhat firm tone, “I ask you this as a friend. Forget all my titles for a second and listen to me, bug to bug. Just go. I'm not mad at you, far from it. I just want to spend a moment with her, for one last time, before this bedchamber becomes forever a shrine.”  
“Very well, i will be outside if you need me.” Quirrel said, before silently stepping outside the room.  
“I thank you mother, for everything you did for me. I know it wasn't ideal, being a queen, and a dreamer, and then a parent as well. But i thank you regardless, for the light you granted me.” Hornet stood up, and bowed her head to her dreaming mother, “may you rest in eternal peace now.”


End file.
